Telephone attachment



PATENT Enron.

CHARLES H. BERNHARD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,C27, dated October15, 1895.

Application filed March 15, 1894:- Serial No. 503,699. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. BERNHARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Attachments;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to telephone attachments; and the object of theinvention is to provide a telephone with means whereby the phone shallbe in electrical connection with the central office when the receiver istaken from the switch or fork and hangs suspended at the side of thephone-box exactly the same as it is when resting on the switch and outof personal use. It frequently occurs that one person responds to thephone call while the call is for another person not immediately present.Awaiting the coming of such person there is liable to be considerabledelay during which the phone-receiver usually is left hanging on itsconnecting-cord instead of being placed back on the switch, and whenthis occurs the switch is thrown out of electrical contact, and therecan be no ring ing up from Central or other communication therefrom.Now, this is objectionable and should be overcome, for the reason thatfrequently the party waiting at the other end of thelinebecomesimpatient and wants Central to repeat the call, so that the partywith whom communication is sought may be re minded of the delay andbrought to the phone. Such call from Central cannot, however, be made ifthe receiver be removed from the switch, and the central office ispowerless to help the waiting customer; but with my improvement,communication with Central is kept open and a call can as well be madewhen the receiver hangs loose at the side of the phone as when it is onthe switch. This,

' of course, takes the Weight of the receiver off the cord carrying theconducting-wires and transfers it to the suspensory mechanism con nectedwith the switch substantially as shown.

The invention therefore consists in the con struction and combination ofparts, substan tially as shown and described, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of atelephone box or casing, showing my attachmentin position thereon andwith the telephone-receiver suspended as it appears when the attachmentis in service. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the attachmentitself.

A represents the telephonebox or casing, which is of the usual standardcharacter, and is shown here simply to illustrate the object and use ofthe invention in connection therewith.

B represents the usual pivoted switch or fork, through which electricalconnection is made inside the box when the said switch is depressed bythe weight of the receiver C.

D represents the cord having the usual wires in duplicate for conveyingthe current and attached to the posts E in the box. Obviously, if therewere no other means than the cord D for supporting the receiver the receiver would hang suspended not only upon the said cord but upon theposts or studs E. Now, as a matter of fact, it is a very commonexperience for the receiver to be dropped when this occurs. It is alsovery common to have the fall thereof pull out the studs E or to pull outthe studs G in the receiver itself, and this entails considerableexpense for repairs. However, while my invention overcomes thisobjection and protects-the connections at both ends and prevents thepulling 0d of the receiver by reason of its falls, it is a mere incidentof the invention to thus protect said parts, and the real merit of theinvention resides in the further fact that it maintains a close circuiton the phone when the phone hangs in the manner shown in the drawings.To the end that this may be accomplished I employ a connectingattachment comprising a double wire hook H at one end, or itsequivalent, adapted to engage over the fork of the receiver B, andhaving a twisted shank of more or less length'made out of the samematerial and connected to a spirallywound body made of smallspring-wire. At the other end of said attachment is the spring clasp orclamp L, adapted to engage upon the cord D at any point where suchengagement is desirable to be made, and having a keeper N adapted toslide down over the parts of the clamp and cause it to engage firmlyupon the cord.

This particular construction of attachment and support is anexceedingly-convenient one in every respect and admirably serves mypurpose. The hook H is easily engaged and disengaged with the forkedswitch B, and the clamp L is easily attached or removed from the cord.Then, by reason of having a spring body K, there is just enough yieldingin the attachment to accommodate it to this use. Thus, having connectedthe attachment with the switch and the cord, as shown in Fig. 1, andassuming that the receiver falls or is allowed to drop from the hands,the spring K will break the fall and prevent strain at any point andthereby prevent pulling out of parts and possible breakage of thereceiver when it falls on the floor. The spring also serves to make theconnection flexible instead of rigid, and this is desirable in the useof the phone. Obviously, the attachment shown may be materially modifiedthroughout and yet serve the same purpose, the idea in any case being tosuspend the receiver when off the switch from the switch itself by meansof a flexible medium and thereby still suspend the receiver from theswitch instead of suspending it upon the cord D alone, as hitherto.

When the receiver is suspended, as in Fi 1, the cord D is relieved ofall strain above the point of engagement therewith. The hook II may beon the switch without interfering with placing the receiver thereon, asusual, and the attachment permits as free a use of the phone as withoutit, while at the same time it affords the advantages which have beendescribed.

If for any reason the receiver were allowed to hang off the switch, asfrequently occurs, my attachment leaves the phone operative exactly asif the receiver were placed where it belongs. Then the moment it israised for use the switch is relieved and electrical connection istemporarily broken.

By my peculiar construction of clamp I both clasp the cord or combinedwires D and at the same time lock the clasp-sections against each otherat 4, which helps to prevent the cord from pulling out when the receiveris dropped. The clasp is made of spring metal and holds the cord firmlyat any point of engagement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a telephone switch and receiver, of a support forthe receiver constructed at one end to engage upon the fork of theswitch and at the other end to engage the cord of the receiver andhaving an elastic body, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification.

CHARLES II. BERNIIARD.

\Vitnesses:

H. T. FISHER, GEORGIA SGHAEFFER.

